HSK 5 · Adjectives

系统 xìtǒng “system” in Chinese

Traditional 系統

What 系统 means

  1. system
  2. systematic

Measure word 个 gè · 一个系统 yí ge xìtǒng

How to say 系统

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale系xì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale统tǒng3rd tone, dipping

系统 in a sentence

  1. 他们已经换了系统。

    Tāmen yǐjīng huàn le xìtǒng.

    They’ve changed the system.

    Sentence #13069524 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 宿舍里的暖气系统出毛病了。

    Sùshè lǐ de nuǎnqì xìtǒng chū máobìng le.

    The heating in our dorm has broken down.

    Sentence #1300385 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他提议对教育系统进行改革。

    Tā tíyì duì jiàoyù xìtǒng jìnxíng gǎigé.

    He proposed reforming the education system.

    Sentence #8655644 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 系统 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 系 (xì) with each of its parts in a different colour
系xìto connect
  • 丿slash · piě
  • 糸silk · mìMeaning part

Memory aidPicture silk threads 糸 hanging from a hand 丿: to tie, a link, a system.

The character 统 (tǒng) with each of its parts in a different colour
统tǒngto gather
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 充to fill · chōngSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 充 (chōng) hints at the sound. Compare it with tǒng.

How to write 系统

系 7 strokes · 统 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

系统 (xìtǒng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 系统 (xìtǒng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 系统

Words with 系

没关系méi guānxi · it’s okay关系guānxi · relation联系liánxì · to contact系xì · (university) department系领带jì lǐngdài · to tie a tie体系tǐxì · system系列xìliè · series

Words with 统

统一tǒngyī · to unify传统chuántǒng · tradition总统zǒngtǒng · president (of a country)统治tǒngzhì · to rule统计tǒngjì · statistics统统tǒngtǒng · all统筹兼顾tǒngchóujiāngù · to plan as a whole and consider all aspects

More words: Adjectives

温暖wēnnuǎn · warm温柔wēnróu · gentle文明wénmíng · civilised稳定wěndìng · steady瞎xiā · blind鲜艳xiānyàn · bright-coloured现实xiànshí · reality相似xiāngsì · similar

FAQs

系统 (xìtǒng) means “system” or “systematic”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it xìtǒng: xì with a 4th tone, then tǒng with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 系统 is written 系統. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one system is 一个系统 (yí ge xìtǒng).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xitong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 系统 from the suggestions. Typing xitong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
系统 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.